Former NFL Player Stands Up for Women's Sports: Here's His Plan to Stop Biden's Agenda
Female athletes may have to conquer a new glass ceiling due to a recent executive order that set the stage for rolling out transgender protections.
President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Jan. 20 that mandates any school that receives federal funding must allow males who identify as female to play on girls’ sports teams. Otherwise, the school could face repercussions from the Department of Education, such as the loss of federal funding.
Retired NFL defensive end Marcellus Wiley responded to the order by calling for a separate competition category for transgender people.
“As a father of 3 daughters & the husband to a former collegiate athlete, this hits home in a special way,” Wiley tweeted on Jan. 29. “It’s time to create a separate transgender category in competition! Also think it’s time for me to start a podcast bcuz some things need to be discussed in detail! #respect.”
As a father of 3 daughters & the husband to a former collegiate athlete, this hits home in a special way?It’s time to create a separate transgender category in competition!
Also think it’s time for me to start a podcast bcuz some things need to be discussed in detail!?#respect pic.twitter.com/FFhmZutmmP— Marcellus Wiley ? (@marcelluswiley) January 30, 2021
The tweet included a screenshot of a May 2019 article from World Magazine that demonstrated how allowing biological athletes to participate in women’s sports often undermines female athletes.
The article described how transgender collegiate athlete CeCe Telfer was ranked 200th and 390th in 2016 and 2017, respectively, among Division-II men’s college athletics, but became a national champion after transitioning and being allowed to compete against women.
Another former NFL player, Cory Procter, disagreed with Wiley’s tweet, writing, “No extra category. Men and women.”
“I’m hearing that pushback. But, is that respecting all? That’s what I want to dive into,” Wiley wrote in response.
? I’m hearing that pushback. But, is that respecting all? That’s what I want to dive into
— Marcellus Wiley ? (@marcelluswiley) January 30, 2021
Wiley’s tweets highlight the concern people have regarding the impact of Biden’s executive order on female athletes.
Critics have condemned it for infringing on women’s rights by allowing transgender people have access to bathrooms and sports teams that do not align with their biological gender.
The Independent Women’s Forum, a conservative nonprofit, noted that allowing biological males to participate in women’s sports disadvantages women.
“Every time a transgender woman secures a spot on an elite women’s team or wins a scholarship reserved for female athletes, a biological female loses an opportunity,” the group tweeted on Jan. 21.
Every time a transgender woman secures a spot on an elite women’s team or wins a scholarship reserved for female athletes, a biological female loses an opportunity. #SaveWomensSports #IWregs #BidenErasedWomen https://t.co/NjFwSdxxpS
— Independent Women’s Forum (@IWF) January 21, 2021
The purpose of a women’s sports category is to prevent girls from competing with men for recognition of their athletic accomplishments.
Acting as if biological distinctions between males and females do not exist by allowing men to play with women at a competitive level only undermines the integrity of girls’ sports.
With Biden’s recent actions forcing more schools to allow transgender people to compete in women’s sports, more female athletes will likely find themselves deprived of opportunities.
UPDATE, Feb. 8, 2021: The fact-checking website PolitiFact has published a “fact check” arguing the claim that President Joe Biden’s Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation will allow men who identify as women “to compete in women’s sports is misguided.”
PolitiFact’s “fact check” is misleading, however. The argument that the “fact check” refutes isn’t based around any specific mandates, but rather a logical extrapolation of how the order’s guidance will be implemented — guidance which federal agencies, including the U.S. Education Department, are required to follow.
Since the order bans discrimination on the basis of gender, it can be reasonably determined it will then lead to the inclusion of men who identify as women onto the sports’ teams of their choosing, given that this is one of the most oft-cited examples of gender discrimination.
This is by no means a far stretch, considering the order itself asserts that “children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports.”
For a more detailed refutal of PolitiFact’s “fact check,” you can click here.
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